Saturday, May 16, 2009

Rain. Nanjing Massacre Museum 2.0. Ikea again.

Rain dampened the second full day of AKIC in AKINistan (also known as Nanjing). So, Tony's parents didn't take Tony to the Nanjing Zoo as had been originally planned. Perhaps, the third full day (Sunday).

So the K family spent time around the house of their hosts. Andis read some Platonic dialogues to pass the time as he watched Tony get into stuff. Mah Jong enthusiasts may be excited to know that the host's house has one of those self-sorting electric Mah Jong tables. Andis took a video of it for the Wuxi Tony Update Series.

Because of the rain and the fact that it was close, Andis disavowed his vow to not to the Nanjing Massacre Museum 2.0 by going after all. Here in his own words, in bullet form, is some of what he saw:

The first floor showed photos from the Japanese attack on Jiangsu province in 1937. This Wuxiren was interested to learn that approx 2,000 people were killed when the Japanese captured Wuxi. A photo at the museum showed Japanese soldiers marching through an opening in the Wuxi city wall.

The new museum had some interesting dioramas.

It was startling to see a photo of an safe zone in the Nanjing city with Danish and Nazi flags.

The second floor of the museum was the Victory 1945 section to commemorate the first Chinese victory over Imperial powers in over a 100 years. The Boxer rebellion was referenced. Photos showing the Japanese surrender to the Chinese (7 days after the famous ceremony on the USS Missouri) were shown. (Who knew?)

Chinese and Japanese reconciliation was emphasized as photos showing Japanese leaders meeting Chicom leaders were displayed (Japanese and Chinese relations were normalized in 1972 - photo showing Mao meeting Japanese PM was displayed). The museum said the Chinese were magnanimous with defeated Japanese soldiers.

In the gift shop, a video taken during the Cultural Revolution was shown. Chairman Mao was shown sitting and smoking as he watched a huge display of fireworks at Tianamen Square. There was also images of enthusiastic crowds waving little red books.

In the evening, the K and host families went to Ikea for supper. Andis ate Swedish Meatballs, Couscous, Salmon, and Mashed Potatoes. He needed the hearty meal and all its' supplied energy to later wrench Tony away from the toy section.

Tony has learned how to run. Let him out of sight for one second, and he will start running and before you know it, he is 100 metres away.

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AKIC

I am Canadian. I have lived in Wuxi, China since September 2004. I teach English. In this blog, I recount the things I have seen and the experiences I have had here in Wuxi. I also make comments on things that strike my reactionary fancy.